The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation this week to provide the legal ability for the Siletz Tribe and the state of Oregon to change a legal clause that has severely limited the hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering abilities of tribal members.
The bill sponsored by Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore. allows the Siletz Tribe to return to federal court to request the termination or modification of the consent decree from 1980 that forced the Siletz to give up their traditional hunting and fishing activities as a condition for having their land and status restored.
Although the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission recently approved a new hunting and fishing agreement with the Siletz, Hoyle said the state can choose or be forced by litigation to return to the previous agreement. The legislation is necessary to invalidate the consent decree.
Sen. Jeff Merkley leads the Senate version of the bill.
“The Siletz Tribe never should have been forced to give up their sovereign right to hunt, fish, and gather on their ancestral lands,” Hoyle said in a news release. “We have a responsibility to right this historic wrong and ensure the Siletz are treated as other tribes are.”
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have over 5,000 enrolled members and are headquartered in Lincoln County. The Siletz and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are the only tribes in the country that have consent decrees that legally prevent them from negotiating for traditional hunting and fishing activities on their land, Hoyle said.
Siletz Tribal chair Dee Pigsley told KLCC radio that she hopes the Senate will approve the measure before adjournment and send it to President Biden’s desk.
“It would be the next best thing that’s happened to us since restoration, actually,” Pigsley told KLCC. “It will make many, many, tribal members happy, and it’ll be a real Christmas present if we can get it through the Senate before they adjourn this year.”
Great news and good luck Siletz!